Computer users can select from a wide variety of software applications such as applications for word processing, database management, Web browsing and so on. These applications can be used to create, operate on and/or save files in many different formats.
Many of these applications have features intended to assist the user. Many of those features can be turned on and off by the user in a relatively straightforward manner. However, while intended as aids, these features can sometimes frustrate users.
For example, consider a conventional word processing application that has a spell-check function. A user can turn on the spell-check function so that spelling is automatically checked while the user is typing. The spell-check function is implemented as a generic or global setting, and when turned on is imposed by the word processing application on all files created or accessed using the application. This can be troublesome for a user that receives a word processing document from another person via electronic mail, for example. The user may only be interested in reading the document and probably has little or no interest in correcting spelling or grammar errors in the document. However, when the user opens the document and has the automatic spell-check function turned on, the document is automatically spell-checked. The user can turn off the spell-check function, but then must turn it back on again to re-enable that function for other documents.
Other automatic settings imposed by conventional software applications can be just as troublesome. For example, in a windows-based operating system, the contents of a file (such as a word processing file) are displayed in a window. The size and on-screen position of the window depend on the application that is used to open the file. Some applications use the same size window in the same screen position for all files. This can be troublesome because the default size may not be appropriate for all files. The user must therefore adjust the window size each time a file is opened.
Other applications apply the same window size and position that were in use the last time the application was used. That is, if for example the user opens a file using a particular application, then reduces the window size and closes the file, the reduced window size will be applied to the next file that is opened using that application. The reduced window size may not be appropriate for the second file, so the user must increase the window size accordingly. Should the user reopen the first file, the larger window size will be applied, so once again the user must adjust the window size.
These represent a few examples in which settings imposed globally by applications turn out to be troublesome to users. Software vendors have either ignored these problems or developed workarounds that may also prove troublesome. For example, as mentioned above, software vendors have made it possible to turn features off and on and to resize and reposition windows, but the user is forced to perform the same actions over and over. Some users may find this annoying, while other users may simply tolerate the inconvenience paradoxically introduced by features intended to assist users.